The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (American Viticultural Area) encompasses more than 850 square miles along the Penninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean down to the Monterey Bay. Due to the size of the Santa Cruz Mountains wine region it is often useful for our visitors to plan their trip by winery hours of operation, sub-regions or by urban winery locations. The sub-region drop down feature allows you to plan for a fun-filled, educational wine experience here in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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McCarthy Family Estate Vineyards

Description

McCarthy Family Estate Vineyard has created an exceptional, limited production Cabernet Sauvignon for the sophisticated wine connoisseur. Nestled in foothills above Los Gatos, McCarthy Family Estate Vineyard encompasses six acres of dry farmed, organically grown vineyards, with a desired southwest exposure, on steep naturally draining slope, which continues the historical growing of Cabernet grapes in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, and more specifically the Jesuits growing Cabernet grapes over a 100 years ago on their contiguous parcel.

The first harvest, of primarily three year old vines, was in 2006, which amounted to a very small quantity. 2007 & 2008 harvests have increased exponentially and full production should be reached in 3 to 4 years, 2011 or 2012.

Michael Martella Wines

Description

My winemaking passion has been a way-of-life for 40+ years. As Winemaker, I’ve spent the past 35 years focused on producing site driven wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains and on building Thomas Fogarty Winery into a highly respected national brand. I started Martella wines in 1998, with the objective of taking a non-traditional approach to my winemaking. Martella wines are made using natural wine making practices. We purchase fruit in small quantities, of various grape varieties, from several diverse regions. The production on most of these wines are less than 200 cases.

Mount Eden Vineyards

Description

Mount Eden Vineyards is a small historic wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley, in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original “boutique” California winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55 acres in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden.

Mount Eden Vineyards also produces non-estate Chardonnays from the central coast, primarily Edna Valley. They have great success making Chardonnay from the Wolff Vineyard and are continually recognized as making outstanding wines from that region.

Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking; and an obsession with gentleness and naturalness in the handling of the grapes and wines is his ongoing passion.

Description

Muns Vineyard brushes the sky on the Loma Prieta ridge top above Monterey Bay at 2600 feet looking out over Santa Cruz and the Monterey Peninsula. This is the highest Pinot Noir vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a prime growing region for this luscious winegrape. We enjoy the coastal climate of the mountains, with cool fog lapping at our feet in the summer, gentle breezes and sunlight — perfect for growing premium Pinot Noir and Syrah. Moderate days and cool nights, along with diligent personal attention in our 13-acre owner-operated vineyard, produces fruit with rich and complex flavors. We have blended Dijon clones 114, 115, 667 and 777 to provide a fruit-forward, complex and well-balanced Pinot Noir.

We grow 12 acres of Pinot Noir and source most of it to other wineries. You will find Muns Vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs under other wineries’ labels, in the Santa Cruz Mountains and elsewhere. We produce a small amount of Pinot Noir under our own label, as well as our Syrah.

Minimal intervention in the winery allows our unique terroir to shine. Barrel aging in 30% new oak for about 16 months adds soft tannins that accentuate, but not dominate, the beautiful fruit in this special wine. The wine drinks well now and is a delicious complement with food, and will bottle-age for years to come. Enjoy ‘heaven-in-a-bottle’ from our ridge top vineyard above the bay!